(New York) Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that prostate cancer patients receiving radioactive seed implant therapy (brachytherapy) have preserved rectal, urinary and sexual quality of life four years or more after treatment, according to data presented at the American Urological Association (AUA)'s Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA.

"Our findings reveal brachytherapy to be not only an effective treatment for prostate cancer but one that offers the patient sustained, symptomatic quality of life several years post-treatment," says Nelson Stone, MD, Clinical Professor of Urology and Radiation Oncology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Dr. Stone and colleagues from Mount Sinai followed 255 men with prostate cancer treated with I-125 prostate brachytherapy. The follow up mean was 6.1 years (range 4-12). Urinary symptoms and potency data was prospectively collected. Comparisons were made between the pre-treatment, treatment related, dosimetry and post-treatment factors and their associations with quality of life quality of life changes. They found that of the 255 patients followed less than 3% reported minor stress incontinence, potency was preserved in 46% of those with moderate erectile dysfunction pre-implant compared to 70% for those with normal pre-implant function and less than 1% percent complained of bleeding beyond 4 years.

The research team concluded brachytherapy treatment preserves urinary, sexual and rectal quality of life when patients implanted with I-125 have continued, long-term follow-up.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in American men, other than skin cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 230,900 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States in the year 2004.

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Contact: Mount Sinai Press Office
NewsMedia@mssm.edu
212-241-9200
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
10-May-2004

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